1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a communication apparatus connected to a line of an exchange network having a service of notifying a called party of identification information of a calling party (caller).
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, for example, in some foreign countries, there has been provided a service of an exchange network in which a called party is notified of identification information (i.e., the telephone number) of a caller (hereinafter termed a “caller ID service”). A telephone set dealing with such a caller ID service has a small display unit capable of displaying information comprising about one or two lines, the display unit itself comprising, for example, an LCD (liquid crystal display). When a call has been received, the telephone set displays the identification information (telephone number) of the received caller on the display unit, so that the operator of the called party can identify the caller. Japanese Patent Publication No. 6-52914 (1994) relates to such a telephone set. The telephone set of this patent displays the identification number of a caller received at during the call-receiving operation, and resets the display before the next call-receiving operation.
In this telephone set, however, only the identification information of a caller is displayed during the call-receiving operation, and the operator merely determines whether or not to respond to the call-receiving operation.
Hence, conventionally, for example, even if the operator wants to know the history of call-receiving operations from a plurality of callers, he can know only the caller of the immediately preceding call-receiving operation. That is, the operator cannot know the history of call-receiving operations, for example, in a day or during his absence.
Systems have also been proposed in which, for example, another terminal, such as a telephone set, a personal computer or the like, is connected to a facsimile apparatus, so that a single telephone line is shared for conversation through the telephone set and facsimile communication, or for facsimile communication and data communication by the computer.
When, for example, the function of the caller ID service is provided in the facsimile apparatus of the above-described system, although the telephone number of the caller is displayed on the display unit of the facsimile apparatus when the facsimile apparatus responds to a call receiving operation, the other terminal, such as the telephone set, the personal computer or the like, cannot receive the identification information of the caller.
No problem arises when the facsimile apparatus itself responds to the call-receiving operation and facsimile communication is performed in that state. However, when communication is switched to the telephone set or the personal computer after the facsimile apparatus has responded, the other terminal, such as the telephone set, the personal computer or the like, cannot recognize the identification information of the caller even though the identification information of the caller has been transmitted from the switchboard.